As the regular campaign winds down, Lauren James, the 21-year-old rising star of England's women's soccer team, has paid tribute to English soccer great David Beckham in a unique way. However, it wasn't the free kick that earned England's men's soccer team a spot in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan 22 years ago that she emulated, but rather Beck, who caused Simone's red card for a malicious foul at the World Cup in France. Faced with a downed Alozi, James resolutely stepped on the Nigerian player's backside.VAR intervened to allow the referee to cancel the yellow card but show a straight red warning. I just can't fathom how the sister of the English watch made it this far. ! [England's rising women's soccer star pays tribute to Beckham](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/202308/2023080804225560227642506.png) After the goal-less extra time, the teams went into a penalty shootout. The Nigerian women's soccer team had a fluctuating mentality and lost the first two penalty kicks. England women's soccer team clenched their teeth and hit four consecutive penalties to advance to the last eight with a thrilling 4-2 victory. ! [England women's soccer advances on penalties](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/202308/2023080804225580540432506.png) Despite successfully advancing, the road ahead for the England women's soccer team is not smooth. Multiple injuries before the World Cup and in the group stage have left powerhouse star James facing suspension. Today, England women's soccer is nowhere near as strong as it was when it won the Women's Europa League a year ago. Hosts England beat Denmark's women's soccer team to advance to the last eight, a wake-up call for China's women's soccer team. Ahead of the knockout match between the Australian women's soccer team and the Danish women's soccer team, 75,784 fans were welcomed to the Australia Stadium in Sydney, and the atmosphere was electric. The hosts took the initiative soon after the start, with Caitlin Flood helping her team to the lead in the 28th minute, despite the legendary Kerr failing to make her debut. The Danish women's soccer team's survival high-flying style of play seemed to be ineffective against the skilled Australian women's soccer team. The Australian women scored again in the 70th minute of the second half. Toward the end of the match, the legendary Kerr took the field, earning loud cheers from the more than 70,000 fans in attendance. In the end, the hosts beat Denmark 2-0, tying the best record in the team's history and breaking into the top eight of the Women's Soccer Team World Cup. Many Chinese women's soccer fans also followed the knockout match between the Australian women's soccer team and the Danish women's soccer team, as these two teams are closely related to our Chinese women's soccer team. The Danish women's soccer team is a direct rival of the Chinese women's soccer team, while the Australian women's soccer team is an enemy of our women's soccer team in the AFC. In the group stage, the Danish women's soccer team made us suffer a lot, which directly caused us to lose the initiative to advance. However, in the eight-quarter finals, the Australian women's soccer team was more like a 2.0 evolved version of the Danish women's soccer team. The players are not only physically strong, but also have excellent individual speed, technique and sense of teamwork. Next, our Chinese women's soccer team will face the challenge of Hangzhou Asian Games and Olympic qualifiers. Australian women's soccer team becomes our direct competitor in Asia. Especially the Olympic qualifiers are much more difficult than the World Cup. If we want to advance, we must squeeze out Japan Women's Soccer, Korea Women's Soccer and Australia Women's Soccer. The difficulty is evident. The Australian women's soccer team's easy victory over the Danish women's soccer team is a wake-up call: the pattern of competition in Asian women's soccer has changed, and China's women's soccer team will be in an increasingly difficult situation. The only way to keep the glory of the roses is to abandon the illusion of winning the Asian Cup, to recognize the situation, to be down-to-earth, and to fight one battle at a time.

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